Colby-Sawyer College has garnered media coverage by several high-profile national outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, following its announcement earlier this year that it will reduce the cost of its four-year, undergraduate tuition by 62% beginning next fall.

College leadership announced in September plans to reduce the cost of its undergraduate tuition from the current published price of $46,364 to $17,500 beginning in the 2023-24 academic year. The announcement prompted headlines at the time in regional publications such as the Concord Monitor, the Valley News and the New Hampshire Union Leader, but has since gained national traction, with both the New York Times and the Washington Post publishing articles over the course of the last two weeks.

“We are very pleased that several major news outlets are taking notice of our reduced tuition,” Colby-Sawyer President Susan D. Stuebner said. “Through their coverage, these outlets are recognizing that the current pricing model for higher education is broken and that there is a need for greater transparency and accessibility. Our reduced tuition is one way to accomplish these goals.”

The announcement to reduce tuition by 62% was made following several years of strategic planning by the college’s Board of Trustees and its Senior Leadership Team. According to a recent study from federal student loan servicer Sallie Mae, more than four out of five families will dismiss a college based on the price of attendance, without any other research.

Though 100% of Colby-Sawyer students receive a financial aid package of some kind, college leadership has made a decisive move to be more transparent about the actual cost students and their families will pay to attend.

“The goal is to make the pricing more transparent so families don’t have to wonder, ‘Can I afford this institution or not?’” Stuebner told the New Hampshire Union Leader, noting that many families won’t even consider a private college like Colby-Sawyer because of the listed price.

Colby-Sawyer’s reduced tuition was featured in a Dec. 2 article in the Washington Post, titled “As Enrollment Falls and Skepticism Grows, Some Colleges Are Cutting Prices.” The college was featured in the New York Times on Dec. 14, under the headline “A Sign that Tuition Is Too High: Some Colleges Are Slashing it in Half.”